Big Buck’s continued on what appears an unstoppable march towards the longest winning streak in National Hunt racing history as he strolled home at Ascot.
Victory in Saturday’s Long Walk Hurdle was his 14th in a row, surpassing Bula’s record from the 1970s and taking the Paul Nicholls-trained giant to within touching distance of Sir Ken’s mark of 16 back in the 50s.
That should happen by the end of the season provided Big Buck’s remains sound to collect the World Hurdle for the fourth time before moving on to Aintree with rivals to his crown looking scarce.
Many trainers have grown tired of opposing him and his only new challenger, David Pipe’s Dynaste, tried to upset the order with Big Buck’s facing the different challenge of soft ground and a right-handed track.
Dynaste set out to test the 3-10 favourite from the front and Ruby Walsh had to niggle at Big Buck’s briefly as he hit one of his typical flat spots.
Big Buck’s swiftly responded and was in front with two flights remaining.
Walsh, relaxed again, allowed him to coast past the post eight lengths in front of stablemate Five Dream. Dynaste’s early exertions took their toll as he faded to fourth.
“He’s all class. He looked fat at Newbury and I thought he was a lot fitter today,” Nicholls said.
“He’s such a character and you’ve really got to manage him, making sure he’s never left alone and that sort of thing.
“The girl who rides him every day thinks he’s better than ever this year, and I hope he will continue to be hard to beat.
“We’ll have to see, but I wouldn’t have thought he would run again until Cheltenham.”
If Big Buck’s had not unseated Sam Thomas at the final fence of the 2008 Hennessy, this experiment-turned masterstroke would never have occurred.
“He won’t ever go over fences now,” Nicholls said.
“He doesn’t like them and I wouldn’t want to risk him. He is too good at that job. It’s funny, if the Hennessy hadn’t happened who knows what I would have done with Kauto Star and Denman around.”
Ladbrokes cut Big Buck’s to 4-6 from 4-5 for Cheltenham.
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